Lean thinking and risk management in healthcare organizations: a systematic literature review and research agenda

Purpose Healthcare organizations have been facing challenges due to high costs and low efficiency in health services. The growth of costs and losses caused by avoidable mistakes lead to the search for solutions, and Health Lean Management appears as a potential solution to help in solving service quality problems, as well as reducing risks. This study aims to analyse the state of the art in the literature centred on the Lean approach in the context of risk management in healthcare organizations, and to identify new research opportunities, highlighting possible lines of future research. Design/methodology/approach Following a systematic literature review approach, 51 papers were considered relevant for this research, and reviewed to explore the development of literature in this area. Findings Based on the results, five main research streams were identified: (1) risk management oriented towards patient safety; (2) risk management oriented towards employee safety; (3) importance of attitudes and behaviours in risk reduction projects; (4) Lean tools used in healthcare risk management and (5) Integration of approaches. Moreover, several shortcomings were identified in literature. Originality/value Identified shortcomings represent significant opportunities for further research development.